BELIZE CITY, Wed. Jan 30, 2019– Jose Zelaya, Sr., 48, a laborer of Complex Avenue, Belize City, who was a witness to a gun attack on his son, Marcos Zelaya, 23, also of Complex Avenue, which occurred at about 9:30 Saturday morning, told the media yesterday that he would not give a statement to police because he did not have the time, and he believes that police do not really want to solve crime, and also, that they frequently make deals with criminals.

Marcos Zelaya was riding on a bicycle slightly ahead of his father on Complex Avenue when a car drove up behind him, and in front of his father (Jose Zelaya) a man out of the car shot Marcos in the back of the head. When Marcos Zelaya fell onto the road, the gunman leaned out of the car and fired more shots at him, hitting him in his back and shoulder.

The car then drove away.

Jose Zelaya said that he ran behind the car and saw the shooter.

Marcos is in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in a critical condition, in the Intensive Care Unit.

Zelaya said that he believes that his son was shot in retaliation for the shooting of a gang leader that was carried out on January 1, New Year’s Day, by a rival gang in the area.

His son was not in the area when the gang leader was shot, the elder Zelaya said, but he was still targeted by the rival gang, called Backa Land Crips, which is based in the area.

As a result of Zelaya’s refusal to provide an eyewitness statement to the police, however, the investigations into finding the gunmen who shot Marcos Zelaya has stalled.